Dec 30, 2022
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Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier
| Owner(s) | Frederic Mugnier |
| Link to this site |
Frederic Mugnier’s philsophy is summarized very simply: let the message in the vineyard come through. Mugnier’s background is engineering and he was a commercial pilot who came to wine as a second career. He started crafting wine while still a pilot and released his first vintage in 1985 from 4 hectares of Chambolle Musigny vineyards (including.53 hectare of Les Amoureuses, .36 hectare of Bonne Mares, and a little over 1 hectare of Musigny - second only to Comte de Vogue) that had been in his family for generations and mostly leased to others. By his own admission, he didn’t know anything about winemaking initially. He attended viticulture school in Beaune and experimented a lot. Over time his experience has served him better than formal winemaking education. He continued to work as a pilot until 2000. In 2004 his Domaine changed dramatically when Faiveley’s lease of the Mugnier family’s 9.55-hectare Nuits St. George 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale expired. This more than tripled the size of Mugnier’s vineyard holdings to 13.5 hectares. With the assumption of the largest monopole in Burgundy, his Domaine became quite large, and he was forced to build a winery and hire several workers to assist him.
Mugnier’s wines are among the purest in Burgundy and Alan Meadows can think of only one other domaine that is in the same classs and that is D’Angerville. The wines are unadorned and unadultered. They do not overwhelm - the drinker must listen. Most people want volume turned up in wine, but Mugnier’s wines are more subtle and the drinker must make an effort to really appreciate them. The wines require plenty of bottle age. Meadows quoted Matt Kramer, who said the distinguishing signature of Mugnier’s wines was “the absence of a signature.” As noted in the first sentence on this page, its not about the winemaker, its about the vineyards and “it is what it is.” Meadows emphasized his admiration for Mugnier’s ability to keep his hands off and let the vineyard and vintage speak.
Articles About Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier
Reviewed Wines
2006 Frédéric Mugnier NSG Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru
(barrel sample)
·
The three wines from this vineyard are inky
purple in color. Rich, deep and sappy black cherry aromas and flavors. Plenty of forbiding and drying
tannins are obscuring the prodigious fruit core.
Reviewed March 23, 2008
ARTICLE »
2005 Frédéric Mugnier NSG Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru
Powerful dark fruits, almost syrupy in texture. Mouth-coating
tannins. Richly layered with blackberries, black cherries and black raspberries. Lingering aromatic finish.
Reviewed March 23, 2008
ARTICLE »
2004 Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle Musigny
Delicate reddish-purple in color. Smoky, dusty and spicy with
chewy black cherry fruit. Plenty of acid grip.
Reviewed March 23, 2008
ARTICLE »
2004 Frédéric Mugnier Musigny
Plenty of appealing smoke and toast on the nose. Lovely raspberry core and a finish that
lasts and lasts. Still some tannin to lose, but the balance here is impeccable.
Reviewed March 23, 2008
ARTICLE »
2004 Frédéric Mugnier NSG Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru
The green character in this wine brought on a lengthy discussion at the tasting. Mugnier noted that
green notes do not detract from a wine in general if the greeness is in the flavors and does not extend to
the tannins. Just how detracting this green character is will vary with the individual with some savoring
the green accents and others finding it displeasing. Greeness or herbal characters can come and go in
Burgundy and Mugnier has observed them to be most noticeable in the Spring. Stems are primarily
responsible, but as the wine ages, the green characters dissipate and, according to Mugnier, disappear
completely in wines over ten years of age.
·
A green note to the aromatics (grassy, new-mown hay). Fruit
tends a little more toward red spectrum with cherry and cranberry evident. Slippery, but evident tannins.
Reviewed March 23, 2008
ARTICLE »
2003 Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle Musigny
A bit deeper in color. Showy fruit, but retains some elegance. Soft
in texture, clean and pure, easy to drink.
Reviewed March 23, 2008
ARTICLE »
2003 Frédéric Mugnier Musigny
Very showy ripe dark fruits front and center with unbelievable persistance. Layers and
layers of fruit and spice. Powerfully structured, but still showing restraint and not flabby in any way.
Absolutely delicious now and should astonish with more bottle age.
Reviewed March 23, 2008
ARTICLE »
2002 Domaine Jacques Frédérick Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny
12.5% alc., $60.
·
Very light in color and body. A delicate wine with stunning aromatics of cherry, rhubarb, spice and a touch of barnyard funk. The wine flows over the palate like Mobil 1, and finishes with a lengthy and charming dose of Asian spice, cinnamon, strawberry and red cherry. Nothing out of place and nothing weighty or awkward here: pure harmony. Smooth as silk, cool as air.
Reviewed September 26, 2006
2001 Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle Musigny
Color matches the 2004. Not especially rich, but very appealing
red Pinot fruits with spice and plenty of vim. Still some tannin to shed. Outstanding with duck at lunch.
Reviewed March 23, 2008
ARTICLE »
2001 Frédéric Mugnier Musigny
Just starting to open. Very sexy aromatic profile which changes constantly in the glass
from red to black fruit expression. Still reticient and somewhat austere on the palate with plenty of lift and
lively acid on the finish. Velvety texture with well-integrated, but evident tannins. The sweet Pinot
elements persist on the finish for an eternity.
Reviewed March 23, 2008
ARTICLE »
2006 Frédéric Mugnier NSG Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru
(barrel sample) · The three wines from this vineyard are inky purple in color. Rich, deep and sappy black cherry aromas and flavors. Plenty of forbiding and drying tannins are obscuring the prodigious fruit core. Reviewed March 23, 2008 ARTICLE »
2005 Frédéric Mugnier NSG Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru
Powerful dark fruits, almost syrupy in texture. Mouth-coating tannins. Richly layered with blackberries, black cherries and black raspberries. Lingering aromatic finish. Reviewed March 23, 2008 ARTICLE »
2004 Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle Musigny
Delicate reddish-purple in color. Smoky, dusty and spicy with chewy black cherry fruit. Plenty of acid grip. Reviewed March 23, 2008 ARTICLE »
2004 Frédéric Mugnier Musigny
Plenty of appealing smoke and toast on the nose. Lovely raspberry core and a finish that lasts and lasts. Still some tannin to lose, but the balance here is impeccable. Reviewed March 23, 2008 ARTICLE »
2004 Frédéric Mugnier NSG Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru
The green character in this wine brought on a lengthy discussion at the tasting. Mugnier noted that green notes do not detract from a wine in general if the greeness is in the flavors and does not extend to the tannins. Just how detracting this green character is will vary with the individual with some savoring the green accents and others finding it displeasing. Greeness or herbal characters can come and go in Burgundy and Mugnier has observed them to be most noticeable in the Spring. Stems are primarily responsible, but as the wine ages, the green characters dissipate and, according to Mugnier, disappear completely in wines over ten years of age. · A green note to the aromatics (grassy, new-mown hay). Fruit tends a little more toward red spectrum with cherry and cranberry evident. Slippery, but evident tannins. Reviewed March 23, 2008 ARTICLE »
2003 Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle Musigny
A bit deeper in color. Showy fruit, but retains some elegance. Soft in texture, clean and pure, easy to drink. Reviewed March 23, 2008 ARTICLE »
2003 Frédéric Mugnier Musigny
Very showy ripe dark fruits front and center with unbelievable persistance. Layers and layers of fruit and spice. Powerfully structured, but still showing restraint and not flabby in any way. Absolutely delicious now and should astonish with more bottle age. Reviewed March 23, 2008 ARTICLE »
2002 Domaine Jacques Frédérick Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny
12.5% alc., $60. · Very light in color and body. A delicate wine with stunning aromatics of cherry, rhubarb, spice and a touch of barnyard funk. The wine flows over the palate like Mobil 1, and finishes with a lengthy and charming dose of Asian spice, cinnamon, strawberry and red cherry. Nothing out of place and nothing weighty or awkward here: pure harmony. Smooth as silk, cool as air. Reviewed September 26, 2006
2001 Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle Musigny
Color matches the 2004. Not especially rich, but very appealing red Pinot fruits with spice and plenty of vim. Still some tannin to shed. Outstanding with duck at lunch. Reviewed March 23, 2008 ARTICLE »
2001 Frédéric Mugnier Musigny
Just starting to open. Very sexy aromatic profile which changes constantly in the glass from red to black fruit expression. Still reticient and somewhat austere on the palate with plenty of lift and lively acid on the finish. Velvety texture with well-integrated, but evident tannins. The sweet Pinot elements persist on the finish for an eternity. Reviewed March 23, 2008 ARTICLE »